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Cops: Sarasota marijuana dealers arrested

Sarasota Police during a Monday news conference show marijuana and cash they say they found during the arrest of two drug distributors.

STAFF PHOTO / MIKE LANG

By SHANNON McFARLAND

Published: Monday, May 6, 2013 at 2:26 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, May 6, 2013 at 2:26 p.m.

SARASOTA - An anonymous tip that a Sarasota man was dealing drugs at local nightclubs led to a six-month investigation, a wiretap and two arrests of mid-level marijuana distributors, according to the Sarasota Police Department.

Anthony Snead, 66, and Andy M. Charlton, 38, are both charged with possession of cannabis with intent to sell, Chief Bernadette DiPino announced at a news conference Monday morning. Charlton is also charged with transportation of drug paraphernalia.

DiPino said the investigation began last September, after an anonymous complaint that Snead was selling drugs in area nightclubs. Detectives began gathering intelligence and watching Snead to validate the complaint, discovering he was just not a small distributor.

Snead was involved in a large scale marijuana sales operation based out of a home he rented in the 600 block of Audubon Place, in the Park East neighborhood, police say.

SPD Detective Greg Grodoski, of the Narcotics Unit, spent six months gathering intelligence, conducting surveillance and other investigative techniques that led to a wiretap of Snead's phone.

Within weeks, detectives say they determined patterns of marijuana delivery to Snead's home.

On April 23, the work finally paid off when detectives observed Charlton delivering a cardboard box to Snead's home. Detectives executed a search warrant on the residence, discovering five pounds of marijuana packaged in one-pound vacuum-sealed bags and valued at about $5,000 each. The names of various marijuana strains, like “Cheese” and “Big Dream,” were written on the bags.

Detectives estimate Snead has been receiving five-pound marijuana deliveries about once a week for several years. Considered high-grade marijuana, Snead was buying it at $5,000 per pound, according to police.

At five pounds of high grade marijuana once every five days to a week, police say Snead was paying as much as $1 million a year for marijuana, breaking it down and repackaging it to sell out of the home or local businesses — including the unnamed nightclub — in smaller quantities for a higher profit. Police also confiscated $131,905 in cash at the home and the truck Charlton used during the delivery.

“This was just on the day they were taken into custody,” DiPino said. She said the case, which remains under investigation and could have additional arrests, was just part of a major drug operation.

Both men had past arrests related to drugs, criminal histories that will affect the prison time they could face if convicted of the charges.

A neighborhood activist, Linda Holland, 67, spoke up after the announcement, commending the case as the result of “good, competent police work.” The president of the Gillespie Park Neighborhood Association, near Park East, she said residents have been frustrated with crime in the area over the years. Police say they had numerous complaints from residents about drug sales and prostitution at Snead's home.

“It's very significant to the neighbors,” Holland said. “It is time for this to stop.”

A resident of the area for 33 years, Holland said what happens in the neighborhood next to her matters.

“The drug dealers want to deal their drugs wherever they want to deal,” she said.

<p><em>SARASOTA</em> - An anonymous tip that a Sarasota man was dealing drugs at local nightclubs led to a six-month investigation, a wiretap and two arrests of mid-level marijuana distributors, according to the Sarasota Police Department. </p><p>Anthony Snead, 66, and Andy M. Charlton, 38, are both charged with possession of cannabis with intent to sell, Chief Bernadette DiPino announced at a news conference Monday morning. Charlton is also charged with transportation of drug paraphernalia.</p><p>DiPino said the investigation began last September, after an anonymous complaint that Snead was selling drugs in area nightclubs. Detectives began gathering intelligence and watching Snead to validate the complaint, discovering he was just not a small distributor.</p><p>Snead was involved in a large scale marijuana sales operation based out of a home he rented in the 600 block of Audubon Place, in the Park East neighborhood, police say.</p><p>SPD Detective Greg Grodoski, of the Narcotics Unit, spent six months gathering intelligence, conducting surveillance and other investigative techniques that led to a wiretap of Snead's phone. </p><p>Within weeks, detectives say they determined patterns of marijuana delivery to Snead's home. </p><p>On April 23, the work finally paid off when detectives observed Charlton delivering a cardboard box to Snead's home. Detectives executed a search warrant on the residence, discovering five pounds of marijuana packaged in one-pound vacuum-sealed bags and valued at about $5,000 each. The names of various marijuana strains, like “Cheese” and “Big Dream,” were written on the bags. </p><p>Detectives estimate Snead has been receiving five-pound marijuana deliveries about once a week for several years. Considered high-grade marijuana, Snead was buying it at $5,000 per pound, according to police. </p><p>At five pounds of high grade marijuana once every five days to a week, police say Snead was paying as much as $1 million a year for marijuana, breaking it down and repackaging it to sell out of the home or local businesses — including the unnamed nightclub — in smaller quantities for a higher profit. Police also confiscated $131,905 in cash at the home and the truck Charlton used during the delivery.</p><p>“This was just on the day they were taken into custody,” DiPino said. She said the case, which remains under investigation and could have additional arrests, was just part of a major drug operation.</p><p>Both men had past arrests related to drugs, criminal histories that will affect the prison time they could face if convicted of the charges.</p><p>A neighborhood activist, Linda Holland, 67, spoke up after the announcement, commending the case as the result of “good, competent police work.” The president of the Gillespie Park Neighborhood Association, near Park East, she said residents have been frustrated with crime in the area over the years. Police say they had numerous complaints from residents about drug sales and prostitution at Snead's home. </p><p>“It's very significant to the neighbors,” Holland said. “It is time for this to stop.”</p><p>A resident of the area for 33 years, Holland said what happens in the neighborhood next to her matters. </p><p>“The drug dealers want to deal their drugs wherever they want to deal,” she said.</p>